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With the exception of being on a panel, never spoke to PRSA-Detroit in a formal capacity – very fun! Thanks to Nuria for suggesting we speak and then helping us put the presentation together. Been doing this for 4 months – love it! Learned a lot, especially during this tumultuous time for GM, the auto industry, and the global economy. Mary: Why we are good at this VS marketers – if we’re good at media relations, we’re good at engagement and dialogue, this is with consumers, essentially eliminating our gatekeepers Fascinating time to be practicing public relations, we’re in the midst of a new era of engagement Learned a lot from Christopher – GM is fortunate to have him leading our SM efforts

In Nielsen Online’s latest study, 66.8% of Internet users have used social networks, while only 65.1% have used email.YouTube: In March 2009, YouTube reached 100 million monthly viewers in the US. 6.3 billion videos were viewed on the site. According to some calculations, YouTube will serve 75 billion video streams to 375 million unique visitors in 2009. Facebook: Facebook grew from 100 million to 200 million users in less than 8 months; it took only 6 months to achieve 300 million users. Its traffic has grown immensely in one year’s period, especially in Europe where it grew 314%. According to comScore, it has grown a staggering 2,721% in Italy from February 2008 to February 2009. In other European countries, its growth was also immense: 999% in Spain, 607% in Belgium, 518% in France, 499% in Switzerland. Twitter: Twitter grew 76.8 percent just from February 2009 to March 2009. Its yearly growth rate is 1,382 percent. According to Nielsen, Twitter currently has 7 million unique monthly visitors. If it keeps growing at this rate, it’ll have nearly 100 million visitors same time next year

This chart highlights some of the changes taking place as a result of these shifts. Most important of these is the shift in the role of communications from “publisher” or messenger to that of an enabler or influencer. The reality is, if you are a communications professional, you no longer have control of the message. It used to be that all communication with the outside world occurred through corporate or divisional communications teams; today, much of the interaction between GM and outside audiences occurs through our non-communications colleagues, through their blogs, podcasts, or other use of media. So your role is far less often to refine the official message, choose the vehicles for its distribution, and manage its conveyance to those vehicles. Rather, your role is to get the right information to your fellow IBMers so that they can engage with outside audiences in a well-informed and accurate way. We hope to influence the thinking of our colleagues and convince them of the corporate message, rather than simply informing them of the position and acting as the authoritative voice.

iphone app - 33,185 downloads and 316,307 story reads

Our goal during this time was to hold the mic for as long as we could – that included using SM to its fullest We had nothing to lose and everything to gain – we were as transparent and open as possible Some thought it was good, some thought we were saying too much – we were used to being beat up so why not? Opportunity to change perceptions one person at a time – it’s clearly micro targeting to the very person Went from being on Twitter – to using it -- to posting on Facebook Biggest win was that Fritz Henderson – who’s only 50 was completely behind our effort Understands significance of SM and potential – has completely embraced it

Christopher

Christopher

Christopher

Chris Barger Social Media Presentation

1.
Changing Channels: The Rise of the Social
Web & What It Means For Business
Christopher Barger
Director, Social Media, General Motors
@cbarger
University of Tampa
September 22, 2009

2.
Agenda
 Why the focus on the social web?
 What’s it really all about?
 One company’s efforts in action
 What you should be thinking about/what you
can do
 Who to watch
 Q&A (both ways, by the way)

7.
Social media is not really about technology
“It's a story about community and
collaboration on a scale never
seen before. It's about the
cosmic compendium of knowledge
Wikipedia and the million-channel
people's network YouTube and the
online metropolis MySpace. It's about
the many wresting power from the
few and helping one another for
nothing and how that will not only
change the world, but also change
the way the world changes.”

9.
 Projections are that more than half of
all U.S. households will have DVRs by
2010.
 "I bought XM radio because I wanted
something that wasn't clogged with
commercials," said Alfred Lupercio of
Chesterfield Township. "But now there
seem to be more and more and I figure
it's not worth the money.“
 As of September 9, 2009, more than
220 million iPods had been sold
worldwide.
A growing backlash

11.
It’s about trust
 58% believe what a “person
like me” says about a
company or organization
 63% of those 25-34 are “likely
to share opinions and
experiences about companies
they trust or distrust online.”
 78% of those 35-64 are “likely
to trust what they have seen,
read or heard about a
company if someone they
know has already mentioned
it to them.
Source: Edelman Trust Barometer, 2008

14.
GM Social Media Team: Philosophy
The GM Social Media team is responsible for reaching
new audiences, bloggers and other key influencers that
live in the online world. We continue to educate
communications and marketing colleagues throughout
the globe on the importance of social media, how to
embrace it, and how to engage in conversations that are
taking place online.
GM’s approach to Social Media
Empower all employees to become active in Social
Media
 Brand vs. Individual balanced approach
 Immerse and disperse

17.
Results
Making use of the @GMBlogs Twitter account, members of the social media team
responded to more than 1,000 questions, comments and concerns that week.
The team also live-Tweeted press conferences and media calls that would have
been otherwise unheard by the Twitter community.
Ability to clarify rumors and hearsay before on-line “forest fires” spread
Communication employees on twitter collectively have more than 30,000 followers.
Overall, the community was impressed with GM’s use of Twitter to communicate
news during a corporate communications crisis. Several local news outlets
published the GM Twitter badge on their own web sites during the announcements.
Notable comments:
o Live from New York! It's our bankruptcy proceedings twitter feed! GM breaks
new territory into corporate lifecasting with @GMBlogs -@JonnyWon
o @GMblogs is on fire today. Not a plug, but in the olden days, a company
would be hiding in cave on a day like 2day -@APAutoWriter

19.
“After this event it is safe to say, I can say I
feel GM has a real future and great product
in the pipeline” – Joelfeder.com
“Lo and behold, GM has jumped into the
ring with a new project called The Lab and
it seems to be a solid first step in engaging
designer and customer in a productive,
conversational way. This marks a turning
point in the use of social media as a truly
two-way street into and out of automotive
companies outside of the PR department” –
Downsideupdesign.com
@Stephanieclick There are not enough
good things to say about yesterday's event.
So grateful that I was invited. Trying to
process all that I saw!
Hands on Engagement

20.
“Michaelbanovsky: Sweet! #GM
actually listened for once! Now I
know I talked to #fritz about the
#G8… http://tr.im/wHpq”
Nsap: is impressed GM is listening
when it comes to product...good for
them! Keep it up!! @gmblogs
@bpgjim @cbarger”
Listening to consumers

21.
Portfolio Event Results: Product
 “It's also clear that GM spent a lot of time and care designing the interior of the
Enclave… Fit and finish are light years ahead of past GM vehicles.”
 The new [Cadillac] CTS is probably the best conceived and executed GM
product that I have ever had the privilege of experiencing… The first
generation CTS started to change minds, this second generation model is
going to win hearts.”
 “Search... I mean, search, for another automotive blog where a young import-
loving guy posts twice in one afternoon; consecutively; where the titles both
feature the name Buick… And we ain't joking around. Nor does the joke start
at the next sentence: The Enclave is good.
 “While GM cars are unmistakably American, it turns out that the meaning of
that word is changing. I noticed a maturing and a refinement of design that
(while a little slow in coming), feels like a breath of fresh air. GM certainly
needs some of that these days.”

22.
Effect of outreach on brand reputation
 “Kudos to you General Motors, for realizing and respecting the reach of the
Internet and the influence of women in the blogosphere.”
 “This is what really impressed me - here we were with all of these major
executives from this huge automotive company, and yet they were sitting there
talking to us, interested in what we had to say, asking us what we thought of
the cars, what we thought of the whole trip - everyone was friendly and
approachable. It tells me that GM really cares about what people think about
their cars, and I like that.”
 “In the end I was impressed with [Chevy’s general manager]’s willingness to
come meet with us bloggers… the fact that he was there and listening counted
for a lot. I didn't agree with every answer, but I was glad to have the
opportunity to ask the questions.”
 “The best part was the realization GM has come to: the internet matters,
bloggers matter, and they're representative of the marketplace. We were
listened to and taken seriously. We were asked questions, too!”

23.
Effects of outreach on GM Brand Reputation
 “First, credit where credit’s due: GM is one of the
few major public corporations (and the first I’ve
seen in the auto industry) to realize that social
media, and the blogosphere in particular, doesn’t
take kindly to being treated like any old marketing
mechanism. On-message spin doesn’t work online
because bloggers are people who take pride in
peering through the fog, and distilling information
for their readers… They managed to hire people
who realize that success in the blogosphere is
about having an honest conversation, good or bad,
and that admitting mistakes builds trust with
consumers.”

25.
The bottom line
Relevancy in the social web is earned, not bought
We now work in a trust economy
Businesses and organizations no longer
automatically relevant; peers are
To be effective, you must broaden your scope,
your audiences, and your mind

26.
The bottom line: Get ready
 If you’re not out there, get out there
 Shift your focus to engagement, not numbers
 Avoid “gurus”
 Recognize that ROI is indirect
 No such thing as “creating viral”
 Don’t overfocus on the tools or technology; remember that
people and trust are the core
 Be strategic; don’t just create media to be “out there”
 Would you read/listen/watch/care if you didn’t work here?